


The Tempered Soul is Everlasting

by bullpavus (talksmaths)



Series: Not Alone Do We Stand [4]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, major fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-13
Updated: 2019-03-13
Packaged: 2019-11-17 14:41:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18100526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/talksmaths/pseuds/bullpavus
Summary: Cullen asks for advice. All his closest friends have very different ideas.





	The Tempered Soul is Everlasting

The grounds of Skyhold are all but abandoned beneath the endless drone of rain. The storm will bring life to the garden, surely, but it has caused all the people who typically spend their days outside into the dryness of the castle. 

“Ow,” Lavellan said, hand to her face. “Raindrop in my eye.”

All people but Lavellan and Cullen.

“Don’t lean so far away from under here,” Cullen offers, unable to hide his laughter. They were standing under the gazebo, the one dry place outside amidst the rain. Lavellan had put her hand in the rain, then kept moving back. When she moved closer to Cullen, he could see she was nearly soaked.

“What did you want to tell me before we get sick from exposure?” she said, blinking and rubbing the pain from her eye. Cullen wanted to speak to her out here because everyone else was in the castle. Although it could hold everyone comfortably, it could no longer afford solitary passageways or distant ears for secrecy. Right now, out in the open was the most private place they could be.

“It’s about Dorian,” Cullen said softly. He felt a blush rise in his face and couldn’t stop himself from smiling inwardly, wide and proud and excited. “I just can’t get the thought out of my mind, and the more I think about it, the more I--”

“What?” Lavellan half-yelled over the thunder of rain on the gazebo roof.

Cullen swallowed his nerves, pushing past his embarrassment. “I said, the more I think about it, the more I know I have to do it. I’m going to--”

“What?” Lavellan said again, louder. Cullen gave an exasperated sigh before drawing up all his courage to fill his lungs.

“I said, I--”

“What?!”

Cullen took a step closer to Lavellan, rolling his eyes. He could tell she was messing with him, but he also wanted to make sure she heard him. “I’m going to propose to Dorian!” he yelled.

Lavellan blinked repeatedly before covering her mouth with both hands for a moment. “Really?” she asked softly.

Cullen nodded, retrieving the silver ring from his pocket as evidence. “I just need to ask you how.”

“Me?” she asked, looking back up at Cullen after examining the ring. “Isn’t he your boyfriend?”

“But I want to make sure I do it right,” Cullen says. “I can’t let him down.”

“This is the same man you made a surprise dinner for on your first date with mismatched silverware and an old, dirty tablecloth, it is not?” Lavellan laughed. “He doesn’t love you because you impress him. He loves you because you love him. Plus,” she continued, “I don’t think there’s anything you could do that would impress him. I mean that in the best way.”

Cullen grimaced. “Then this is my chance to at least try,” he explained. “I want to make this perfect.”

Lavellan half-smiled at Cullen, sincere and proud. “I’ll help you,” she said. “You’ll impress him. I promise.”

Suddenly, Lavellan pulled Cullen in for a tight, well-meaning if not awkward hug. He grimaced silently at realizing her own wet clothes were soaking through his own slowly but surely, and yet he couldn’t push her away. He returned the embrace, slightly uncomfortable and embarrassed.

“I have some ideas,” she said as they parted. “But we may have to involve some others. I promise they’ll keep it a surprise.”

“All right,” Cullen said, hesitant but accepting. Spinning on her heel, Lavellan all but ran from the gazebo and to the castle, no doubt heading toward her quarters. Cullen followed after a moment, using his arm to protect himself from the rain.

 


End file.
